A battery or an accumulator is used as the energy source in electrically driven vehicles. At present, batteries of this kind are often composed of a large number of lithium-ion battery cells since, in the current prior art, these have the greatest energy density at the lowest weight, for example in comparison to nickel- or lead-based accumulators. Particular safety standards are to be complied with both in respect of production and also in respect of use of batteries of this kind on account of the high energy content, amongst other things. Disregard of said safety standards may damage or even destroy the battery cells of batteries of this kind. For example, charging the battery above a specific voltage limit and discharging the battery below a specific voltage limit can lead to destruction of the battery.
Furthermore, in particular, excessive charging or excess temperatures during operation of batteries within an electric vehicle present a risk to the battery and also to the safety of the user. This may result, for example, in so-called “venting”, this being an uncontrolled, self-feeding reaction which can lead to evaporation of the electrolyte which is contained in the battery or to the battery catching fire. For this reason, both the voltage of the battery cells and also the temperature of the battery cells are continuously monitored in the batteries of the prior art, for example with the aid of measurement chips and microcontrollers.